Louise Moillon (1610-1696)Moillon is the greatest French still-life painter of the seventeenth century.
She spent her career in Paris. Her paintings are exquisitely rendered with painstaking attention to detail. She worked for a number of distinguished patrons, including the highest nobility of France and King Charles I of England. Most of her work dates from the 1630's, prior to her marriage in 1640.

Still Life with Cherries, Strawberries and Gooseberries, 1630
12-5/8 x 19-1/8 in. The Norton Simon Foundation

Moillon was one of the pioneers of French still life painting. This exquisitely realized painting, one of the few examples by Moillon in American collections, was painted when the artist was a mere twenty years of age. Moillon rendered her "portraits" of fruit with a sharp eye aided by her meticulous hand. Whether or not the still life paintings by Moillon and her contemporaries lacked the sophistication and panache of their Dutch counterparts, it is apparent that they embraced an entirely different aesthetic -- quieter, more contemplative and satisfying in its own right.